Written in the midst of some of the most consequential times in the history of America and the Church, this series of over 30 essays by Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr., provides a biblical perspective on issues affecting the Church, the Black community, and American society. McKissic addresses:

> How believers relate to the Holy Spirit in personal and public life.> Racism and reconciliation in the largest and most politically influential Protestant denomination> The presence of blacks in the Bible and what that means for African-Americans today> Hot-button issues like homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and where the church should stand on these matters

Packed with powerful insight and prophetic perspectives, this book challenges the church to unashamedly promote biblical principles at a time when confusion and uncertainty reign in the world.

Richard III: England's Most Controversial King

From acclaimed historian Chris Skidmore comes the authoritative biography of Richard III, England’s most controversial king, a man alternately praised as a saint and cursed as a villain.

Richard III is one of English history’s best known and least understood monarchs. Immortalized by Shakespeare as a hunchbacked murderer, the discovery in 2012 of his skeleton in a Leicester parking lot re-ignited debate over the true character of England’s most controversial king.

Richard was born into an age of brutality, when civil war gripped the land and the Yorkist dynasty clung to the crown with their fingertips. Was he really a power-crazed monster who killed his nephews, or the victim of the first political smear campaign conducted by the Tudors?

In the first full biography of Richard III for fifty years, Chris Skidmore draws on new manuscript evidence to reassess Richard’s life and times. Richard III examines in intense detail Richard’s inner nature and his complex relations with those around him to unravel the mystery of the last English monarch to die on the battlefield.

Short Stories by Jesus Leader Guide: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus' stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives.

In Short Stories by Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine analyzes these "problems with parables" taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.

Short Stories by Jesus Participant Guide: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus' stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives.

In this Bible study based on her Short Stories by Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine analyzes these "problems with parables" taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

This participant guide provides an introduction to the main text as well as further Scripture commentary and reflection questions.

This is work of creative art and satire (17 U.S. Code § 107) Within the film industry, Grant is cited as an anti-star who approaches his roles like a character actor, and attempts to make his acting appear spontaneous. Hallmarks of his comic skills include a nonchalant touch of irony/sarcasm and studied physical mannerisms, as well as his precisely-timed dialogue delivery and facial expressions. The entertainment media's coverage of Grant's life off the big screen has often overshadowed his work as an actor. Grant has been outspoken about his antipathy towards the profession of acting, and in his disdain towards the culture of celebrity and hostility towards the media. In a career spanning 30 years, Grant has repeatedly claimed that acting was not his true calling, but rather a career that developed by happenstance.[

Operation Catapult: The History of the Controversial British Campaign Against the Vichy French Navy During World War II

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "You are charged with one of the most difficult and disagreeable tasks that a British admiral has ever been faced with. But we have complete confidence in you and rely on you to carry it out relentlessly." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "90% of senior naval officers, including myself, thought [Operation Catapult] a ghastly error and still do." - Royal Navy Admiral Andrew Cunningham, 1950 Emerging from France's catastrophic 1940 defeat like a bedraggled and rather sinister phoenix, the French State - better known to history as "Vichy France" or the "Vichy Regime" after its spa-town capital - stands in history as a unique and bizarre creation of German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler's European conquests. A patchwork of paradoxes and contradictions, the Vichy Regime maintained a quasi-independent French nation for some time after the Third Reich invasion until the Germans decided to include it in their occupation zone. While the French later disowned the Vichy government with considerable vehemence, evidence such as fairly broad-based popular support prior to Case Anton suggests a somewhat different story. The Petain government expressed one facet of French culture and thought. Its conservative, imperialistic nature did not represent the widespread love of "liberty, fraternity, and equality" also deeply ingrained in French thinking, but neither did it constitute a complete divergence from a national history that produced such famous authoritarians as Louis XIV and Napoleon Bonaparte. Of course, this precarious position left Britain in the unenviable position of figuring out what to do with its once erstwhile ally. France is seldom deemed a maritime power, yet during World War I and in the interwar period, the French Navy developed into a relatively powerful fighting force. While it could not rival the British, American, or Japanese forces, it represented one of the medium-sized naval powers like Germany or Italy. As such, the French Navy would have an interesting role to play in the development of the Vichy state during World War II. While the Third Reich naturally cast covetous eyes at the powerful French naval vessels in the hands of their ostensible Vichy ally, they proved content to see those ships remain neutral for several years after their victory in Western Europe. Only when the French changed their allegiance in the direction of the Allies did the Germans make an attempt to seize the French vessels. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was not so content. The actions he initiated - opposed by many of the British naval officers involved, but nevertheless dutifully carried out - embittered relations between France and England for a generation. The stern leader showed a certain ruthlessness and even spitefulness in dealing with both neutrals and weaker allies during the war. England failed to provide material aid to Poland when the Germans and Soviets invaded it in 1939, and even neglected to declare war on the USSR. Churchill sacrificed Poland to Stalin's territorial ambition almost without a murmur of protest at war's end, and his successor, Clement Attlee, then carried on his existing policies by insisting the Poles pay a large sum to the Britain for British assistance, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers fought for the British only to see their homeland given away almost casually by their allies. This somewhat unflattering side of Churchill's character emerged in his dealings with Vichy as well. Despite the assurances of Darlan and others that the French would never hand their ships over to Germany, Churchill would put in motion a campaign attempting to destroy their fleet. As a result, the one-sided Operation Catapult would be one of the most controversial and unique episodes of World War II.

Operation Catapult: The History of the Controversial British Campaign Against the Vichy French Navy During World War II

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "You are charged with one of the most difficult and disagreeable tasks that a British admiral has ever been faced with. But we have complete confidence in you and rely on you to carry it out relentlessly." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill "90% of senior naval officers, including myself, thought [Operation Catapult] a ghastly error and still do." - Royal Navy Admiral Andrew Cunningham, 1950 Emerging from France's catastrophic 1940 defeat like a bedraggled and rather sinister phoenix, the French State - better known to history as "Vichy France" or the "Vichy Regime" after its spa-town capital - stands in history as a unique and bizarre creation of German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler's European conquests. A patchwork of paradoxes and contradictions, the Vichy Regime maintained a quasi-independent French nation for some time after the Third Reich invasion until the Germans decided to include it in their occupation zone. While the French later disowned the Vichy government with considerable vehemence, evidence such as fairly broad-based popular support prior to Case Anton suggests a somewhat different story. The Petain government expressed one facet of French culture and thought. Its conservative, imperialistic nature did not represent the widespread love of "liberty, fraternity, and equality" also deeply ingrained in French thinking, but neither did it constitute a complete divergence from a national history that produced such famous authoritarians as Louis XIV and Napoleon Bonaparte. Of course, this precarious position left Britain in the unenviable position of figuring out what to do with its once erstwhile ally. France is seldom deemed a maritime power, yet during World War I and in the interwar period, the French Navy developed into a relatively powerful fighting force. While it could not rival the British, American, or Japanese forces, it represented one of the medium-sized naval powers like Germany or Italy. As such, the French Navy would have an interesting role to play in the development of the Vichy state during World War II. While the Third Reich naturally cast covetous eyes at the powerful French naval vessels in the hands of their ostensible Vichy ally, they proved content to see those ships remain neutral for several years after their victory in Western Europe. Only when the French changed their allegiance in the direction of the Allies did the Germans make an attempt to seize the French vessels. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was not so content. The actions he initiated - opposed by many of the British naval officers involved, but nevertheless dutifully carried out - embittered relations between France and England for a generation. The stern leader showed a certain ruthlessness and even spitefulness in dealing with both neutrals and weaker allies during the war. England failed to provide material aid to Poland when the Germans and Soviets invaded it in 1939, and even neglected to declare war on the USSR. Churchill sacrificed Poland to Stalin's territorial ambition almost without a murmur of protest at war's end, and his successor, Clement Attlee, then carried on his existing policies by insisting the Poles pay a large sum to the Britain for British assistance, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers fought for the British only to see their homeland given away almost casually by their allies. This somewhat unflattering side of Churchill's character emerged in his dealings with Vichy as well. Despite the assurances of Darlan and others that the French would never hand their ships over to Germany, Churchill would put in motion a campaign attempting to destroy their fleet. As a result, the one-sided Operation Catapult would be one of the most controversial and unique episodes of World War II.

Controversial Monuments and Memorials: A Guide for Community Leaders

Out of the chaos and pain of Charlottesville, museum professionals, public historians, and community leaders must move quickly to face the challenges of competing historical memory, claims of heritage desecration and the ongoing scourge of racism. This book takes on the tough issues that communities across America---and analogous locales overseas---must face as white supremacy, political quagmires and visions of reconciliation with the past collide. The events of summer of 2017 that culminated in Charlottesville are outgrowths of ongoing dialogues and disputes about controversial history that encompass numerous historical situations and touch every part of US history. Strategies for working effectively with communities will be explored, and the book will delve into the ways that other countries have attempted to overcome their painful pasts. In addition, this book will highlight essays and case studies from numerous museum professionals, scholars and civic leaders as they grapple with the past they interpret for their visitors. The book will be framed by questions that help museum community leaders make sense of the competing historical narratives and political machinations that drive the current controversy around monuments and memorials--- -How and when do you remove an offensive monument? Hint: It'll take more than a screwdriver.... -How can we be intentional about contextualizing the history and the motivations for building monuments for our visitors? -How can communities be responsive without forsaking the historical record? Here is a guide to collective introspection, awareness of our own biases, and thoughtful community responsiveness which are the tools that will make this engagement meaningful and lasting.

Prohibition: Social Movement and Controversial Amendment

The story of Prohibition in the United States is one of extremes, with temperance crusaders on one side working to ban alcohol across America and bootleggers and organized crime rings on the other side illegally transporting alcohol into speakeasies and homes. Readers explore both sides of this controversial period in American history as they learn the fascinating facts behind the passage and repeal of the 18th Amendment. The captivating main text is supplemented by a helpful timeline, relevant primary sources, informative sidebars, and annotated quotations from historical figures and scholars.